Can opener



Dec. 16, 1952 P. CAPRIOTTI 2,621,403

CAN OPENER Fiied July 3, 1950 INVENTOR. Pa 5 9 u ale ('aprz'o tn Patented Dec. 16, 1952 UNITED STE'S PAT ENIT' OFFICE CAN OPENER-- Basquale Capriotti, Smithfield; Pa.

AppliationJulyB, 1950, SerialNo. 171,825

1 Claim.

My invention'relates tocarr openers, and more particularly to those of thetype wherein' means are provided for imparting relative rotative movement to a canandiaeutter that is positioned to sever the can top. from the can body, at the vicinity of a can rim.

One object of my invention is to provide a tool of the character referred to wherein the cutter operates against the outer wall of the can, on a peripheral line immediately below the lid, to thereby reduce engagement by the cutter with the can contents to a minimum, thus having a more sanitary condition than in the case of those openers that are more greatly exposed to the contents of the can.

Another object of my invention is to provide a can opener of the character referred to, having a guide disc, a wheel for rotating the can rim on the guide disc, and a cutter disc engageable with the exterior surface of the can wall,

together with means for moving and holding said elements more firmly into their operative positions, to thereby insure that the can will be more positively rotated past the cutter than in various similar types of can openers.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a can opener of the character referred to, wherein a leverage device is employed to effect initial puncturing of the can wall by the cutter, and to provide for releasably gripping the can rim by the operating elements, whereby disengagement of the opener from the can is facilitated.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a plan view, partly in section, showing my opener in operative position upon a can; Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof; Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an inverted plan view of the opener; Fig. 5 shows a can having the lid only partly out 01f; Fig. 6 shows a can lid completely severed by the opener, the lid in each case being cut from the can body by the cutter disc operating at the outer surface of the can, and Figs. 7 and 8 are enlarged plan and sectional views of the cutter disc.

A can of conventional form is indicated by the numeral 8 and has the usual bead or rim 9. The opener comprises a pair of levers l and i I pivotally connected at l2 and having jaw portions l3 and I4 respectively. A guide disc I is rotatably mounted on the jaw l3, and a serrated driving wheel I6 is secured to a shaft I! that is journaled in the jaw 14. Also, a cutter disc [8 is secured to the shaft [1 so as to rotate 2. therewith, the wheel It and the disc 18 having openingsof generally rectangular form to fit squared orflattened areas on-t-he shaft I 1; The shaft Ilcarries a handle- I9- by which the shaft, together withthe driving wheel and'thecutter, can be rotated.

The handles of the levers Ill-and H are swung apart to open the jaws 13-44 and thus permit placing of the guide disc l5 against the inner surface of the rim 9 and the driving wheel It at the outer side thereof. Upon moving the handles toward one another, the can rim will be gripped between the disc and the wheel and also the cutting disc 16 will be caused to puncture the can wall. The leverage thus exerted not only facilitates puncturing of the can without exertion of considerable force by the operator, but also insures that the driving wheel I6 and the guide disc IE, will grip the can rim with suflicient force to insure rotation of the can and its rim past the cutter disc I 8 during turning of the handle IS.

The cutter disc, operating from the exterior surface of the can, makes minimum area of contact with the can contents, and furthermore, the cut upper edge of the can is pushed or bent slightly inwardly leaving no protruding sharp or jagged edge, to injure the fingers of anyone grasping the can after it has been opened. The can top can be partly cut away as in Fig. 5, or completely cut away as in Fig. 6. Also, the opener can more readily be removed from the can than can openers of other similar types, be-

cause of the lever mounting for the members I5-l6-IB, since they can be completely disengaged from the can simply through spreading of the lever handles.

In Figs. 7 and 8, the cutter disc I8 is shown on an enlarged scale, the disc being beveled at 23 on its lower side and having a shorter bevel 24 above its cutting edge. The bevel surface 24 extends only a slight distance into the can when the wheel I6 is rolling on the rim, and there is little danger of shavings or metal particles being rubbed from the upper out edge and carried into the can.

The handle H has a punch 25 struck therefrom for punching milk cans and the like. Also, it has an edged end 26 somewhat the form of a screw-driver to serve as a pry or lifting lever to force frictionally-held lids off of containers. The handle iii has a curved tongue 21 that will rest upon a bottle top of the crown cap type and fingers 28 will engage beneath the edge of the cap, so that when the lever ii! is raised, the cap 3 will be lifted from the body. The spread relation of the fingers 28 removes the cap with less deformation and bending, so that it can be placed back on the bottle when desired.

1 claim as my invention:

A can opener comprising a pair of levers of unequal lengths pivotally connected together intermediate their ends, the inner end of the shorter of said levers having the effective operating edge thereof formed arcuately, a substantially horizontal guide disc rotatably mounted on the under face of the inner end of the last mentioned lever, in position to rest upon a can lid and engage the inner annular surface of a raised rim above the can lid when said levers are cross-wise of the lid, a substantially vertical shaft journaled in the inner end of the longer lever, a cutter disc keyed to the lower end of said shaft in position to engage the side of the can at a circumferential line below the said rim, said cutter disc having the upper face slightly beveled at the peripheral edge thereof and the under face thereof peripherally beveled to a greater extent than and at a different angle from the bevel of said upper face, a serrated driving wheel secured to said shaft on a plane substantially the same as that of the rotatable guide disc and in position to be rotated on the peripheral surface of the rim, and a handle for turning said shaft and driving wheel to rotate the can rim between the guide disc and the wheel, and to rotate the cutter disc, when the outer ends of said levers have been swung in a direction to grip the can rim between said guide disc and wheel and to force the cutter disc through the can wall, the levers being of such greater length than the diameters of standard sizes of can tops that their outer ends may be grasped at points beyond the edge of the can lid, when the levers are disposed across said lid.

PASQUALE CAPRIOTTI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Switzerland Aug. 1, 1932 

